Case Overview
In this case, the Keller Rohrback ERISA team, along with co-counsel at Stris & Maher LLP and the Seattle City Attorney, successfully defended a landmark Seattle ordinance that mandates that large hotels spend a certain amount for their employees’ health care or pay the employees additional compensation so as to enable them to afford such care. The employer advocacy group (“ERIC”) claimed that the law was preempted by ERISA, the federal law covering employer-provided benefits, in ERISA Industry Committee v. City of Seattle, No. 18-1188 (W.D. Wash.). Keller Rohrback helped to draft the ordinance that has been in effect since July 1, 2020.
ERIC’s case was dismissed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and that decision was then affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Both the District Court and the Ninth Circuit decisions relied on the Ninth Circuit’s 2008 decision in Golden Gate Restaurant Association v. City and County of San Francisco, 546 F.3d 639 (9th Cir. 2008), in which the Ninth Circuit upheld a San Francisco ordinance which was nearly identical to the City of Seattle law. ERIC’s attempts to distinguish Golden Gate both in the District Court and before the Ninth Circuit were therefore unsuccessful. On April 30, 2021, ERIC filed a petition for rehearing en banc, urging the Ninth Circuit to revisit its decision in Golden Gate. On September 1, 2021, ERIC’s petition was denied.
On November 21, 2022, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari, thereby ending efforts to invalidate the City ordinance.
Keller Rohrback’s work on this case led to the firm being named one of Law360’s Legal Lions in its "Weekly Verdict: Legal Lions & Lambs" post.
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